Skype for iPad goes live, for a while

Skype’s internet phone and video chat application for Apple’s iPad was available on Tuesday, but was quickly pulled from Apple’s iOS App Store. Skype said in a Twitter message that it had gone live prematurely.

It is not clear when Skype on iPad, which was reported to go live over a month ago, will now be available. A video of the application running on the iPad was posted online in June.

Update: The iPad version of Skype has returned to the App Store.

In a June interview with Apple blog TUAW, Skype vice president of consumer and product design Rick Osterloh said the iPad version will have chat, audio and video calling. A few features in the PC/Mac app such as file sharing did not make it into the iPad version because of the way it handles files, he added.

Microsoft said in May that it had agreed to acquire Skype in an US$8.5 billion deal. It said it would continue to support Skype’s product on rival platforms. Versions of the Skype application are already available on a variety of platforms including the Mac and iPhone.